The Robert Rauschenberg Foundation is announcing emergency grants for two Florida organizations to provide support and aid in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma. The Foundation donated $25,000 to the Harry...

The 18 local nonprofits granted $551,500 in 2016 from the Southwest Florida Community Foundation’s available Field of Interest funds as well as individual and corporate donations, have reported their annual...

FAFSA form required for need-based scholarships
The deadline for the Southwest Florida Community Foundation’s scholarship application process is fast approaching with less than two weeks left to apply.
Closing on March 3,...

The Gutheim family has established the Jordan Ashley Gutheim Foundation Fund and the Jordan Ashley Gutheim Scholarship Fund, funds of the Southwest Florida Community Foundation.
The donor advised fund and scholarship...

Congratulations to the Southwest Florida Community Foundation board of trustees and senior advisors celebrating 40 years of philanthropy. The anniversary events were kicked off tonight with the awarding of the...

FORT MYERS, Fla. (Jan. 5, 2016) – Tessa LeSage, director of strategy for the Southwest Florida Community Foundation, will be a guest presenter at Lumina Foundation’s national conference in February.
LeSage...

We are big fans of frank and the UF public interest communications program, this is why. They monitor news that affects our causes. Check it out.
http://frank.jou.ufl.edu/2015/01/why-traditional-media-still-matters/
...

Tiger was such a good cat. She came to us after our first family cat passed away. My two boys (little at the time) were distraught by the loss, so my husband told them, “when one kitty dies, two new kitties come!” Oh how we searched and searched for the right pair determined to save a special duo from being euthanized. That’s when we met Spike and Tiger, females, one tabby, the other calico. Now each boy had a cat. As if predetermined at birth, the cats split up to favorite the child of ours that most matched their demeanor-- one somewhat quiet but strong and sensitive, the other friendly and quick with a purr like a 1.5 liter engine.
While I didn’t mean to, I blinked, and suddenly my oldest was getting ready for college this fall. As we began the college countdown, Tiger spent most of her time uncharacteristically on his bed. She slept by his head and we thought she knew something was up. Animals sense things, you know. Then she stopped eating her favorite food, so I immediately dropped everything and went and bought more varieties, as if my own life depended on it. I thought she was as depressed as I was to see the empty bedroom sans the smelly sneakers and music coming from within.

I knew it wasn’t going to be an ordinary day last week when I reviewed my calendar for the Tuesday’s activities. Lunch in Bonita with the Robertshaws is hardly considered work. Darren is on our board of trustees of the Southwest Florida Community Foundation, and a big supporter of all things Bonita. His wife and partner Stacy is a hard worker in their business and in the Bonita Springs community too.

Last week, culinary students in Pine Manor served up a Caesar salad to start, chicken masala with risotto, assorted wild mushrooms and zucchini as an entree, and a four-cheese cannoli with raspberry ice cream for dessert. But for the 10 graduates, this lunch was much more than the three-course meal they served. The lunch meant a new trajectory to a second chance.
The Pine Manor Community Center culminated its inaugural culinary arts class with a community lunch on Friday, July 11, featuring the talents of the student chefs.

Ashley is from Lehigh Acres, and Nip is from Pittsburgh. She was born to Generation Z; he was born in the Depression Era. Ashley is petite, grinning from ear to ear, and Nip is a staggering 5 feet, 10 inches with a quick smile and twinkle in his eye. As a high school student, she started her own nonprofit called Intro to Excellence, and he is a veteran of World War II and the Korean War, exhibiting excellence in leadership defending our country. The differences go on and the two appear to be worlds apart, but were connected through the work of the Southwest Florida Community Foundation.

The blue tape was clearly in place to protect the window sills from spackling and paint, but it worked overtime at the house on NE 30th Terrace in Cape Coral last week, just like the Habitat for Humanity crew in charge of the renovation. I know that because my Women Build companion and I spent a good part of a day scraping, peeling, rubbing and scrubbing to get the blue remnants off the matte silver border around the front living room panes.
As if a tag team of wrestlers, my counterpart Andrea worked on the window for the morning shift, then we worked together as I unceremoniously tagged her out as I took the afternoon with 409, brillo pads and a Google search on the best ways to remove old window tinting.

RESOURCES

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